Twin sisters Victoria and Grace Reznikov had never stepped foot out of the country. In fact, they had never spent any time away from one another since birth.
But in November, the 16-year-old Lawrence High School sophomores each embarked on separate journeys half-way around the globe.
Although their experiences were very different, they both returned home with a similar goal in life: to help others in need.
Victoria and Grace participated in missions with Operation Smile, an international medical charity that provides surgeries and related care free of charge in developing countries to individuals who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities.
“It was definitely eye opening to me,” Victoria said. “It just showed me how grateful we all should be and how grateful I am for everything I have.”
On Nov. 2, Victoria traveled to Thailand, where she volunteered at a hospital in Mae Sot, near the Thai-Myanmar border. Grace, whose trip overlapped with Victoria’s by a day, departed for Yunnan, China on Nov. 14 and returned on the 25th.
Operation Smile conducts hundreds of medical surgeries around the world. Since 1982, the non-profit organization has performed more than 220,000 surgeries, primarily for children with cleft palates and cleft lips.
According the Operation Smile, children born with these deformities suffer from physical challenges eating, drinking, and breathing and risk malnutrition, infection and early death. They also suffer isolation, low self-esteem, hopelessness, ridicule and humiliation.
‘Imagine going through your entire life with something so evidently wrong and not having the access of funds to fix it.’
Jennifer Krzewinski, associate vice president for Operation Smile’s student programs, explained it’s a life-changing experience for students participating the international missions.
“The kids see firsthand this poverty, and they see the lack of access to surgical care,” Krzewinski said. “They see children that basically have nothing. They can’t go to school, they are shunned, and that really resonates with our students.”
Victoria and Grace became involved with the organization through Lawrence High School Operation Smile Club, an extracurricular activity they have participated in for a year. After attending a regional summit, they were emboldened to apply for medical missions.
High school-aged volunteers attend a three-day training where they learn to take on the role of educators for patients and their families to the mission posts and are assigned a mission site.
Victoria was originally slated to visit Brazil, but after the outbreak of Zika in South America, she was reassigned to Thailand.
After a long-haul flight with a layover in China, Victoria finally disembarked the plane in Bangkok. Initially, she said it reminded her of a more-crowded New York City. It wasn’t until the bus ride through the southeast Asian countryside that she realized she was very far from home.
“I really got the culture shock when I took that eight-hour drive,” Victoria said. “There would be points on that drive where I’ve never in my entire life seen so much poverty.”
The bus rolled through the densely forested, mountainous western region before finally arriving at the hospital in Mae Sot, where Buddhist temples with glistening gold spires loom over the town’s markets that pour into the streets.
Grace’s journey took her to a very different landscape. After meeting up with her fellow students, who were all from Ireland, she had an overnight layover in Amsterdam before arriving in China. The hospital Grace served her mission in was very urban in comparison. She described the area as industrial and said construction projects were underway all over the city.
For Grace, culture shock set in on the first day of screening, in which individuals seeking care arrive at the hospital to be assessed.
“What shocked me was a lot of the moms didn’t want to stand with their kids because they’re embarrassed that their kid has a facial deformity,” Grace said. Victoria said she witnessed this on her mission in Thailand as well.
The social stigma surrounding facial deformities is common in developing nations where access to surgery is scarce due the high costs and lack of qualified surgeons.
Surgery to repair a cleft lip is recommended within the first 12 months of a baby’s life, and within 18 months for a cleft palate.
‘It was moving helping people who are so hopeless.’
Victoria said one of the patients that impacted her the most was a 64-year-old with a cleft lip who visited the Mae Sot hospital.
“Imagine going through your entire life with something so evidently wrong and not having the access of funds to fix it,” Victoria said.
In their role as educators, Grace and Victoria, along with their fellow student volunteers would give presentations to hospital visitors on burn care, nutrition, oral rehydration, teeth brushing, and handwashing.
“It definitely showed the lack of access they had,” Grace said. “They were mesmerized by a toothbrush.”
Another component of the student volunteers’ roles on the mission is to interact with the patients and families, whether it be playing with the children or updating a family while the patient is in surgery.
“It’s a very scary time for the patient where they have never seen another child with a cleft lip before,” Krzewinski explained. “They may have never been to a hospital before. They may traveled days to that hospital, so they’re tired and they may not feel ready to go, so our students just get on the floor and play with the kids and hold the babies.”
“They were all very grateful for anything you did for them, whether it was just playing with their kid or giving them a sticker,” Grace said.
Before their mission, the sisters stuffed their suitcases with packs of stickers and bottles of bubbles for the children. The children’s joy of such simple things in Thailand , Victoria, said was humbling.
“How content they were—things that kids in America would not be content with–a thing of like five stickers, they would get so excited over it,” said Victoria.
On the missions, students interact with nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologist and dentists from all over the world and get to see their respective practices in action.
Grace said the surgeons at her mission site in China were very welcoming and invited her into the operating room to explain the procedures to her.
“The were super compassionate, understanding and respectful of my role on the mission,” Grace said. “There was no superiority on the mission.”
Victoria says she has known since she was child that she wanted to be doctor and her mission just reassured her.
“I loved when the people would come out of surgery and the mom would be waiting there for them and they would start to cry,” Victoria said. “It was moving helping people who are so hopeless.”
Grace isn’t sure what her career path with be, but she knows she wants to help people.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for career exploration where they are learning about careers in the medical field and they are part of a the team,” Krzewinski said.
Grace is now a self-described chopsticks expert. The meals, which were provided for the students at the center were certainly a culinary experience. She said everything was spicy, and she had one memorable moment when she found a chicken head in her soup.
“It was part of the experience,” Grace said. “We all told ourselves we were going to be adventurous and get the full experience.”
On Victoria’s mission in Thailand, the food was not provided so she and the other students would venture out to the markets and restaurants near the hotel they were staying in. Each night, they would try something new. Green curry is her new favorite dish.
In China, the internet is heavily censored so staying in touch through social media was impossible for Grace, and the only time she used her phone was to occasionally text her mother and sister.
Victoria did not have access to WiFi in Thailand, but soon found being disconnected a liberating experience.
“I took a step away from my life here I didn’t worry about what was going on at home,” Victoria said. “ I loved how I didn’t have to use my phone and I kind of forgot about it.”
Sadly, the twins explained, Operation Smile only lets students embark on one mission during high school, but they are looking forward to their freshman year of college when they can apply again to be part of another mission abroad.
They will keep participating in the Operation Smile, though, through the club at their high school. Cheryl Eng, a commercial arts teacher and Operation Smile advisor at Lawrence High School said the students in the club fundraise and collect donations to help supply missions around the world.
“We provide platforms for students to take personal ownership of a cause and encourage and promote opportunities to volunteer, raise funds, and educate others about the power of uniting as advocates,” Eng said.
The LHS club was founded in 1986 and has had over 90 students serve in missions abroad.
“The girls are terrific, and have always worked hard and have shown leadership in the club.” Since returning, Eng said Victoria and Grace have matured and show greater empathy for those in need.
“Our youth are our next generation; what better opportunity to get our kids involved than a medical mission,” said Krzewinski.
“The whole thing was just crazy,” Grace said. “To be in China and there are 160 people waiting for us to help them, it was cool to be part of something bigger than me.”
“I didn’t have any moments of regret,” Victoria said. “I loved every minute of it.”
Victoria Reznikov with a child in Mae Sot, Thailand as part of an Operation Smile mission.,
